Every year I like to pick the best possible team of unrestricted free agents in order to gage how good a team that would have been if one team signed them all. Thus we get a good idea how important unrestricted free agency is for building teams and how it changes over time. Here is last year’s team that was headlined by Brad Richards and Teemu Selanne.

In order to qualify for the team you must be an unrestricted free agent in 2012. I will update this team should any of its players sign before free agency begins tomorrow.

This free agent class is likely no stronger than last year. It is headlined by Zach Parise and Ryan Suter but most players here will not be game breakers. Many once were significant players. Jaromir Jagr, Martin Brodeur and Teemu Selanne are future Hall of Fame players in the twilights of their careers. Selanne is likely not a “real free agent” in that I doubt he signs anywhere but Anaheim.

** Ryan Smyth signed in the morning before the free agents came on the market and thus was swapped out of the team at the last minute. Scott Clemmenson signed in Florida just before the markets opened up. Thus he is swapped out and the goaltending becomes New Jersey`s goaltending tandem from last season.